Clarence Thomas breaks silence on bench

1/14/13 6:00 PM EST

Justice Clarence Thomas, famous for sitting all-but-silent during the Supreme Court's oral arguments, briefly broke that tradition Monday with a joke about the Ivy League. Precisely what he said, however, remains a subject of dispute.

Thomas's rare interjection came during a case brought by an indigent Louisiana inmate who challenged his conviction on murder, armed robbery and other charges after his case was delayed for years due to the local government's failure to fund defense counsel qualified to handle a death-penalty charge.

After Justice Scalia observed that one of the inmate's lawyers graduated from Yale and another from Harvard, suggesting that they were talented attorneys, Thomas chimed in. The official transcript (posted here, see page 40) has Thomas saying simply, "Well, he did not--" The transcript says his remark was followed by laughter.

Subsequent remarks in the transcript, including the arguing attorney's shout-out for Louisiana State University, suggest that Thomas's joke involved a Yale degree being no guarantee of competence. Or perhaps he was talking about a Harvard degree. Or both.

Thomas is a Yale Law graduate whose long-strained relationship with the school has defrosted a bit recently. So it could have been a dig at his alma mater or a dig at its principal rival.

It's been nearly seven years since Thomas asked a question or made a public comment at the court's oral arguments. Yet, despite his reputation, Thomas doesn't remain completely silent on the bench. On opinion days, he reads summaries of court opinions he has authored. And he often chit-chats with justices on either side of him during oral arguments, while almost always refraining from any comments audible to counsel, onlookers or the court's recording system.

The mystery of what Thomas said Monday could be resolved on Friday when the court is expected to release audio of the week's arguments.